Hvar, Croatia (Hemera)Hvar, Croatia
For Celebrity Seekers
Hvar, a beach-rich island off Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast, has long been a favorite of the celebrity set, but was off most average Americans’ radar screens. Frequent sightings of the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Stephen Spielberg, and Gerard Depardieu – not to mention King Abdullah of Jordan, Princess Caroline of Monaco, and Bill Gates – add a certain allure to this very understated, very green island that shelters the rich and fabulous. Even England’s Prince Harry stopped by in the summer of 2011, venturing into an open-air nightclub called Veranda, where he famously dived backwards, fully clothed, into a swimming pool.
The addition of more hotel rooms has made it easier for less fabulous folks to vacation on the island now. Visitors can stroll past sweet-smelling fields of lavender, sip glasses of plavac (the local island-brewed red wine) under the stars, hike to rural villages, bask on quiet beaches, swim in a sea as clear as a glass of vodka, or climb up to the historic Spanjol Fortess to get great photos of Hvar’s harbor.
